


a place to weather our storms

by SalazarTipton



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Getting to Know Each Other, High School, M/M, One Shot, Vignette, Wordcount: 100-1.000, mentions of bullying, roswellweek2019, the tool shed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-11 09:48:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19926067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalazarTipton/pseuds/SalazarTipton
Summary: before their last moment in the tool shed together, alex and michael had a handful of moments that grew them closer together





	a place to weather our storms

“Glad you took me up on the offer,” Alex says as he opens the door.

Michael is frozen on the little futon with his homework scattered around him like he was just rifling through his notes for an answer. He drops his notebooks on his lap and tucks his pencil behind his ear, staying place thanks to his ringlets curling around it. He ducks his head for a second before meeting Alex’s eyes. 

“Yeah, uh, thanks. I don’t get why you’re being nice to me, though,” Michael admits.

Alex shrugs and steps into the little room and shuts the door behind himself. 

“What are you working on?”

He holds up the study packet for the bio exam next week. Alex snatches it away from him and flips through the pages, seeing that it’s almost completely filled out. Mr. Powers only gave this out today. Alex is sure Liz’s isn’t even this filled out yet, and that’s saying something. When he saw her at the Crashdown earlier she was on the second page.

“This is supposed to take us all week to finish,” Alex comments, trying not to look at Michael and reveal how impressed he feels right now. 

Michael shrugs and tugs the packet out of his hands. “Why would I pace myself for the sake of that creep? I have better things to do with my time than pretend I don’t already know the answers.” His eyes track Alex pulls his bottom lip between his teeth in an effort to hide his smile. 

“And what, exactly, are those better things?”

It’s Michael turn to duck away and hide his features. A million cheeky responses pop up into his head. Ones that would work pretty damn well to get a girl into the back of his pick up. He didn’t consider trying it out on a guy. Well, not just any guy. He doubts it’d be so easy to get Alex’s interest.

* * *

Michael opens the door and stops in his tracks. “Oh, sorry. I can leave--”

“You’re fine,” Alex interrupts his thought. He screws the top back on his nail polish and moves his legs off of the futon, giving Michael a spot to sit beside him. “I’m just wasting time.”

“Painting your nails is ‘wasting time?’ I figured you did that because you liked it...” 

Alex squints and tilts his head like he’s thinking. “Not my nails, specifically. I’m waiting for a text from Maria.”

Michael nods along, awkwardly. He feels out of place. Although the shed has been his place to sleep for the past couple of weeks, it’s still Alex’s space first. He knows he’s just a guest here. 

“Didn’t think anyone put that much thought into this,” Alex admits, holding up the little bottle of black polish. Michael shrugs. Alex takes in how uncomfortable he looks and comes up with an idea. “You ever try it?”

Michael finally looks back at him with his eyes a little wider than usual. “Try it? Like, paint my nails? No.”

“You want to?” Alex pats the futon and shakes the nail polish at him. Michael opens his mouth like he’s trying to come up with a response, but instead he just shuts it again and shakes his head with a smile. 

“Why not, right?”

* * *

“How’s your nose?”

Alex ducks his head and sighs before lolling it to the side sporting a grimace. “You saw that, huh?”

“I think half the band and cheerleaders saw it. Socking a guy in the middle of the hallway tends to get people's attention. Too bad the shit that happened before didn’t,” Michael says. He reaches out to brush his thumb gentle over the swelling. 

Alex’s nose wrinkles under his touch, but he doesn’t flinch away. His eyes squeezing closed, crinkling around the corners would look pretty cute if it weren’t for the darkening bruise that pairs nicely with his smudged eyeliner. Michael tries to brush away some of the kohl without pressing too hard around the bruising area. His breath hitches when Alex leans into his hand. The pain lessens in his features a bit. Michael thinks he looks softer than he’s ever seen him look before. No more fight-me attitude and wit. Now he’s vulnerable, hurt, and trusting Michael with it all. 

When Alex’s eyes open again, they both realize how close they’ve gravitated to each other. He can make out each of Michael’s eyelashes and hairs in the curl that’s perpetually trying to fall down onto his forehead. When Michael’s lips part, Alex’s eyes flick down to them. 

“We should probably get some ice on that,” he whispers. 

Alex lets out a breathy laugh. “Always knew you were a genius.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so dearly for reading! please let me know what you think in the comments! come find me on tumblr: bialiencowboy


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